Minimum wage gap grows wider between states

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OLYMPIA, Wash.- Hundreds of thousands of workers are set to get a pay raise to start 2013, as 10 states increase their minimum wage.

Washington state will again lead the way Tuesday, raising its starting salary to $9.19 an hour. Washington was first to adopt automatic adjustments in 1998 to compensate for inflation. Nine of the 10 states adjusting wages this week did so automatically.

The adjustments have expanded the pay gap between areas that make annual adjustments and those that don't. Many states still follow the federal minimum wage of $7.25.

San Francisco has set the highest local minimum wage and will have workers paid at least $10.55 an hour in 2013.